IT Leadership

I have always believed that you need to know and understand yourself before you can lead others. Leading a team has to start with leading oneself. You need to be able to lead yourself before you can lead others. This also means that you have to build trust in yourself first and then build trust with your team. In this article, I want to go into more detail on leading oneself and building trust. I will focus on the latter, which is an essential aspect of IT-leadership and an integral part of my leadership philosophy. At the same time, I will share some of my personal experiences and highlight how you can achieve excellence in IT-leadership focused on trust.

Introduction

It is essential to build trust with your team, but how can we measure trust? While there is no quantitative metric that exists to measure trust in the workplace, there are specific behaviors and actions that we can practice to build trust with our teams. As Stephen Covey says, “Trust is built on two dimensions – character and competence.” So, in the next sections, I will elaborate on these two dimensions and how they can help you build trust with your team.

Character – The Moral Compass

Building trust starts with knowing and understanding your core values and leading with authenticity and integrity. In IT leadership, it is essential to know your core values and understand your purpose. Your purpose and your why direct how you show up in the world. It is the compass that guides your decisions and actions. Your decisions and actions will be tested, and people will challenge you. However, if you know your why and have a solid set of core values, you will show up consistently, which is crucial to building trust.

Your behavior and communication must be grounded in integrity, honesty, and authenticity. Integrity is about doing the right thing when nobody is looking. It’s essential to be honest and have integrity in the workplace, especially as a leader. Your team will follow your example, and as a leader, you must set the standard for behavior. Remember that trust is earned, and it takes time to build trust with your team. But it can take just a moment to lose it – and once it’s lost, it can be challenging to regain.

One of the most challenging situations for a leader is to admit mistakes. It is essential to be open to feedback and model vulnerability by admitting mistakes. By doing so, you show your human side and strengthen your relationship with your team. Additionally, it is crucial to show empathy and humility and to create an environment where your team feels safe to take risks. If you make a mistake, own up to it, apologize if necessary, and immediately take steps to rectify the situation. Remember that leadership is not about being perfect; it’s about leading with authenticity and humility.

Leading with emotional intelligence is crucial in IT leadership. It is not enough to be technically competent; a successful IT leader must also understand and manage their emotions and those of their team members. To do this, IT leaders must develop self-awareness, regulate their emotions, be mindful of their impact on others, and manage relationships effectively. You must be confident in who you are as a person and leader and exude an upbeat and positive attitude. A positive mindset can go a long way in building trust with your team. Your attitude sets the tone for your team and organization, so it is essential to be positive and upbeat, even in challenging situations.

Competence – The Results-oriented Focus

The other half of the trust equation is competence – can you deliver results? To demonstrate your competence, you must be confident in your skills and abilities and exhibit a can-do attitude. As an IT leader, it is crucial to stay up-to-date with industry trends, understand the latest technologies, and be curious. By constantly learning and developing your skills, you increase your competence and inspire your team to do the same.

As a leader, it is essential to set clear goals and expectations for yourself and your team. By doing so, you demonstrate that you are a competent and results-oriented leader. Clear goals help your team understand what they need to deliver, thereby enabling them to succeed. When they succeed, you succeed, and everyone wins.

However, it is not enough to set clear goals. As a competent leader, you also need to be results-oriented and deliver what you promised. This will help you build trust with your team and stakeholders. A competent leader focuses on getting things done and adapting to changing circumstances. This type of leadership empowers teams to be results-driven and empowers them to make decisions and take action.

To be a competent leader, you must master the art of delegation and empower your team to take ownership of specific tasks and projects. Delegating tasks is not about dumping unnecessary work on someone else. Instead, it means providing your team with opportunities to develop and grow their skills and abilities and trusting them to deliver results. Delegation is an essential aspect of leadership and a powerful tool to build trust with your team.

As a competent leader, it is crucial to foster a culture of continuous improvement and personal growth. This starts with continuously improving yourself and leading by example. In Japan, there is a term called “Kaizen” – it means continuous improvement and refers to activities that focus on improving all functions of a business, from manufacturing to customer service and administrative tasks. Continuous improvement is a mindset and an important aspect of IT leadership. The IT industry is constantly changing, so it is essential to improve your skills and adapt to new technologies.

Building Trust – The Leadership Triangle

As a reminder, IT leadership is about more than just technical expertise. IT leaders must have the technical skills and operational knowledge to manage effectively. However, they also need to focus on people, understand personalities, and cultivate relationships to build trust effectively. The leadership triangle below (Figure 1) illustrates the three core aspects of leadership that IT leaders need to focus on to be successful:

Figure 1. The Leadership Triangle

• Technical Skills & Operational Knowledge. The first aspect is technical skills and operational knowledge. As IT leaders, we need to understand the business and operational sides of the organization, and we must have the technical skills to provide direction to our teams. We should have a good understanding of the technologies our teams use and the ability to make strategic decisions about technology direction, investments, and deployments.
• Focus on People & Relationships. The second aspect of the leadership triangle is focusing on people and relationships. IT leaders must recognize that the IT department is more than a cost center or a strategic enabler. IT teams are made up of people who have different skills, experiences, and perspectives. By focusing on people and relationships, IT leaders can build strong teams, foster collaboration, and create an environment where trust and high performance can thrive.
• Leadership & Strategy. The third aspect of the leadership triangle is leadership and strategy. IT leaders set the direction for the IT team, develop and communicate the IT strategy, and align it with the organization’s overall strategy. They ensure that the right systems and processes are in place to enable the organization to achieve its goals. They also cultivate a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

IT leaders who can balance these three aspects of the leadership triangle will be successful in leading their teams and driving digital transformation and innovation in their organizations. Now, let us delve into the critical role that emotional intelligence plays in IT leadership and how it impacts the leadership triangle.

Emotional Intelligence in the Leadership Triangle

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a crucial skill set that IT leaders must develop to succeed and thrive in today’s complex business environment. EI determines our ability to understand and manage our emotions and those of the people we interact with daily. It is a pivotal competency that influences how we communicate and interact with others and manage conflicts. Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and author of several books on emotional intelligence, popularized this concept. He defines emotional intelligence as “the ability to read the minds of others.”

Goleman outlines five critical elements of emotional intelligence:

Self-awareness: The ability to recognize and understand your emotions and how they affect you and your work.

Self-regulation: The ability to manage your emotions and control your responses to them, even in challenging situations.

Motivation: The ability to motivate yourself to achieve your goals and objectives, despite challenges and setbacks. It focuses on driving tasks and activities that match your passions and motivations.

Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of others and develop an open mindset to increase your emotional awareness.

Social skills: The ability to build solid relationships, communicate effectively, and influence others.

These five elements of emotional intelligence are essential for effective IT leadership. Let us now examine how these elements interact with the leadership triangle (Figure 1) and how they can help you improve your IT leadership skills and build trust with your team.

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and the Leadership Triangle

Let us examine how the five elements of emotional intelligence (EI) correlate with each of the three aspects of the leadership triangle (Technical Skills & Operational Knowledge, Focus on People & Relationships, and Leadership & Strategy).

1. Technical Skills & Operational Knowledge

As IT leaders, we need to have a solid technical foundation and operational knowledge to make strategic decisions and provide direction to our teams. This technical expertise gives us the credibility to gain the trust of our teams and stakeholders. Self-awareness and self-regulation are essential to developing and maintaining this expertise.

Self-awareness helps us understand our strengths and weaknesses and how we can improve our technical skills. It enables us to seek out opportunities for learning and development and to continuously improve our technical expertise. Self-regulation is crucial to managing our emotions when dealing with complex technical challenges. It helps us think clearly and solve problems effectively, which is essential in IT leadership.

An IT leader with a solid technical foundation who can also demonstrate self-awareness and self-regulation will earn the respect of their technical team and be perceived as credible and trustworthy.

2. Focus on People & Relationships

IT leaders who focus on people and relationships are more successful because they can build strong teams, foster collaboration, and create an environment where trust and high performance can thrive. This requires empathy to understand and share the feelings of others and social skills to build solid relationships.

Empathy is a crucial element of emotional intelligence for IT leaders since IT teams are often diverse and global. It allows the leader to understand the perspectives of their team members and effectively manage the diverse strengths and weaknesses of their teams. Empathetic leaders can also better understand the needs of their customers and stakeholders and develop stronger relationships with them. Social skills are also essential to building relationships with team members, stakeholders, and customers. An IT leader with strong social skills can build trust and collaborate effectively with their team and other stakeholders.

3. Leadership & Strategy

Leadership and strategy are critical aspects of IT leadership that drive the direction of the IT team and align IT with the organization’s overall strategy. An IT leader with a clear strategic vision can motivate and inspire the team to achieve that vision. Motivation is a critical element of emotional intelligence for an IT leader, as it helps them drive the team to achieve results and align with the organization’s goals.

An IT leader with strong leadership skills and a strategic mindset will set the direction for the IT team, develop and communicate the IT strategy, and align it with the organization’s overall strategy. This leader will also cultivate a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, which is essential to driving results and building trust with the team.

Conclusion

IT leadership is a complex and multifaceted role that requires a diverse set of skills and abilities. While technical expertise is essential, it is only one aspect of the leadership triangle. To be an exceptional IT leader, you must also focus on people and relationships and develop your emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is about understanding and managing your emotions and those of the people you interact with daily. It is a pivotal competency that influences how you communicate and interact with others and manage conflicts. Developing your emotional intelligence will help you become a more effective IT leader and build stronger relationships with your team and other stakeholders.

Remember that leadership is not about being perfect; it’s about leading with authenticity and humility. Always lead with your core values, purpose, and principles, and you will quickly build trust with your team and become an exceptional IT leader.

Thank you for reading this article! I appreciate your attention and hope that you found the content helpful and informative. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.